Kaleidoscopes of reality.

This article addresses the broad context of shifting definitions of how knowledge and reality can be described, including the transition from positivism to postpositivism in the 20th century. It provides an exploration of ways of knowing, from ancient Greek and yogic traditions to Barbara Carper's Fundamental Patterns of Knowing in Nursing (1978). It examines three reported components of modern care (intuition, cultural knowing, and spirituality) which are simultaneously present and absent in nursing. It concludes with an imaginative exploration of how nursing might be changed by transdisciplinary scholarship and education, new knowledge creation through interactive online communities, and the emergence of collective wisdom.